weekend links: Richter Scale of Racism, A Tribe Called Quest, Bronx bookstores
Grid of wallpaper designs by Christopher Dresser, 1862-1863. Image courtesy Crown Publishing/Hyperallergic.
Paul Beatty’s Man Booker Prize-winning novel The Sellout, whichswings between right wing-radicalism and Black love, may be just what we need to reunite after this sad election season. It may also be why that racist uncle finally gets his ass kicked at Thanksgiving for thinking that Beatty’s renewal of slavery was at all serious. Use Beatty’s Richter Scale of Racism to help you chart your family members’ absurd remarks this November. [New Statesman]
From the hip-hop trio that read Paul Beatty before the Booker Prize—A Tribe Called Quest—comes the release of their first album in 18 years, a project that neared completion just before member Phife Dawg passed away last March. Rest in Beats. [The New York Times]
In more entertaining political news, Wikileaks has revealed that Marina Abramović worships Satan and that Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, John Podesta, is part of her cult! Abramović disputes the report, arguing that her "Spirit cooking" was "just a normal dinner." You can't make this stuff up. [Spin]
A star-studded exhibition has taken over the prison where Oscar Wilde spent a miserable two years, featuring new work from artists such as Nan Goldin and Steve McQueen and letters from Anne Carson, Ai Weiwei, and others. The exhibit was due to close on Sunday, but has been extended to December due to overwhelming demand. [The Guardian]
News recently broke that the Bronx’s only bookstore plans to close this year. Despite pleas from residents, the chain bookstore has yet to respond, but an independent bookstore has. Shout-out to indie bookstores serving their communities. [The New Yorker]
Arsenic was a popular poison in Victorian-era Britain. It was used in cosmetics, toys, clothing—wallpaper was literally coated with it. And oh how beautiful it was! A new book from Lucinda Hawksley presents 275 of the era’s wallpaper patterns, now with 100% less risk of deadly inhalation. [Hyperallergic]
Hometown hero Kelly Luce celebrated the release of Pull Me Under, her first novel, earlier this week, and we couldn’t be more excited for her. The Austin Review’s Vincent Scarpa sat down to talk to her about the novel, its inspiration, and her time in Japan. Watch her read this weekend at the Texas Book Festival and grab a copy. [Electric Literature]
—Katie Lauren Bruton and Sean Redmond